Salt Lake County’s top elections official apologized to 1st Congressional District candidate Liban Mohamed after alleging he may have broken Utah law by helping voters cast ballots at the county offices — something Mohamed says never happened and the campaign alleges was “likely due to racial profiling.”

On Tuesday, the clerk, Lannie Chapman, said it was a case of mistaken identity and sent Mohamed — a 27-year-old Black man — her “sincerest apologies.”

The situation, Chapman said, began when a young man came into the polling location at the Salt Lake County government offices on at least three occasions, identified himself as Mohamed to both pollworkers and the clerk’s staff and said he was a candidate for office and offered to help people vote.

Under Utah law, it is illegal for a candidate to assist anyone in casting a ballot with voting underway. Ballots were mailed to registered Utah voters earlier this month.

Chapman said she moved quickly and, on Friday, sent an email to Mohamed notifying him of the alleged violation, adding that if the violation proved to be true, the clerk’s office would notify the law enforcement for possible criminal charges.

The problem, according to Mohamed, is that he was never at the polling location and the clerk’s office never reached out to verify the identity of the man alleging to be Mohamed.

“Before issuing the notice, county officials did not contact Mohamed to verify his whereabouts, request information or confirm whether he was the individual observed,” Mohamed’s campaign wrote in a statement shared with The Salt Lake Tribune. “Instead, the campaign says an unverified assumption was made that the person seen assisting voters was Mohamed, likely due to racial profiling.”

Chapman said a review of security camera footage determined the man claiming to be Mohamed was, in fact, someone else — but the clerk’s office doesn’t know who the man is.

“I have since sent him an email stating all of this, including my sincerest apologies and the fact that I will be doing a total debrief after this incident and potentially some training for my poll workers and staff to make sure events like this do not happen again,” the clerk said Tuesday.

Mohamed’s campaign said the threat of criminal charges appears intended to discourage his supporters from voting for him.

“For generations, people fought, marched, bled and even died for the right to participate in our democracy,” Mohamed said in a statement. “So when government officials invoke the possibility of criminal consequences against a candidate without first establishing basic facts, people have every right to ask questions.”

Chapman said there was “absolutely not” any intent to intimidate any voters and added that every eligible voter who came into the polling location has been able to cast a ballot in the race.

The allegation and apology come a week ahead of the primary election to decide the Democratic nominee in Utah’s new blue-leaning 1st Congressional District. Mohamed — who won Democratic delegates’ support earlier this spring — is going up against former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams, state Sen. Nate Blouin and Michael Farrell, with the winner facing Republican nominee Riley Owen in November.